Cearn  ?l?orfe  in  Persia 

I.  With  the  Native  Evangelists  in 
West  Persia. 

Y Missionary  in  tour- 
among  Moslems  will 
e some  strange  ex- 
ences,  impossible  in 
any  but  an  Eastern  land.  Imagine 
the  following  interview  anywhere 
else  than  in  Persia.  The  missionary 
and  his  native  associate  were  in  the 
town  of  M.,  a hot  bed  of  fanati- 
cism, they  decided  to  beard  the  lion 
in  his  den  and  visit  the  Mujtahid  or 
chief  Mullah  of  the  place.  This  they 
did  by  appointment  and  found  the 
venerable  ecclesiastic  in  his  recep- 
tion room  surrounded  by  a crowd  of 
admirers  assembled  to  see  their  chief 
‘"do  up”  the  Christian  preachers. 
Hardly  had  the  usual  salutations 
passed  before  he  began,  “Seeing  you 
have  come  here  to  teach  us  your 
faith  I wish  to  see  whether  you  really 
know  your  own  religion.  Who  was 
the  first  idolater?”  Unfortunately 
neither  of  the  preachers  knew  the 
Mohammedan  tradition  upon  this 


1 


particular  point,  and  frankly  admit- 
ted that  they  had  no  information  on 
the  subject.  “You  don’t  know  who 
the  first  idolater  was?  And  you 
come  here  to  teach  us?  Nimrod  was 
of  course.  But  I will  put  to  you 
another  question.  What  is  Christ’s 
law  concerning  the  trimming  of  the 
mustache?’’  When  told  that  Christ 
gave  no  instructions  about  the  way 
one  should  wear  his  hair;  that  he 
was  only  interested  in  the  state  of  a 
man’s  heart,  the  learned  mullah 
broke  in  indignantly,  “Certainly  he 
had  some  law  on  the  subject,  and  if 
you  don’t  know  that,  you  surely  can- 
not teach  us  the  greater  things.  I 
am  not  well  today  and  can  give  you 
no  more  time.  Go  off  and  learn  your 
own  faith  and  then  come  and  teach 
me.”  And  so  he  dismissed  us  as  he 
would  have  done  a pair  of  school 
boys. 

Once  again  the  missionary  and  his 
companion  found  a group  of  village 
men  squatting  in  a row  on  the  sunny 
side  of  the  street  with  their  backs 
against  a wall.  They  joined  them 
with  their  Bibles  under  their  arms; 
and  soon  the  Missionary’s  compan- 
ion was  reading  to  them  the  Sermon 
on  the  Mount,  which  more  than  any- 


2 


thing  else  Christ  spoke  shows  up  the 
shams  and  petty  formalism  of  Islam, 
But  as  he  read,  from  every  side  came 
the  persistent  question,  “That  is  all 
very  good,  but  what  do  you  think  of 
our  prophet  and  our  religion?”  At 
last  not  able  to  put  off  the  question 
any  longer  the  Missionary  begins, 
"That  is  a very  needless  question; 
for  if  I believed  in  your  prophet  1 
would  be  a Mohammedan  like  your- 
selves. I am  a Christian  and  if  you 
wish  to  know  why  I am  a Christian  I 
will  gladly  tell  you.”  Instantly  bed- 
lam breaks  loose;  an  angry  mob  sur- 
rounds the  preachers,  and  in  the  up- 
roar such  taunts  as  these  are  fired  at 
them.  “A  man  in  our  town  after 
swearing  falsely  upon  the  Koran  fell 
dead.  The  Koran  killed  him.  Can 
your  Injil  do  that?”  “When  they 
were  building  the  sacred  tomb  at 
Meshed  to  the  Imam  Rizza  the  stones 
for  the  building  got  down  them- 
selves from  the  beasts  of  burden  who 
brought  them  and  walked  up  them- 
selves to  their  proper  places  on  the 
walls.  Have  you  any  sacred  places 
to  equal  that?”  ”We  do  not  have 
to  be  pure  and  holy  to  go  to  heaven: 
our  Prophet  is  so  mighty  that  he  can 


3 


and  will  stoop  down  and  pull  us  out 
of  the  hottest  place  in  hell.  Your 
Christ  can’t  do  that.” 

These  same  two  preachers  were  in 
another  town  never  before  visited  by 
Christian  teachers.  A captain  in  the 
army,  who  had  in  his  military  career 
lived  in  other  parts  of  Persia  and 
come  in  contact  with  foreigners,  was 
the  broadest-minded  man  in  the 
place.  He  invited  the  visitors  to  his 
home  for  a tea  drink;  and  while  he 
was  much  interested  in  what  was  go- 
ing on  in  the  world  he  cared  little 
for  religion,  frankly  admitting  that 
he  drank  wine,  had  too  good  an 
appetite  to  keep  the  Ramazan  fast, 
and  found  praying  five  times  a day 
with  its  accompanying  ablutions  too 
much  work.  Yet  he  had  a priceless 
possession,  which  he  showed  us  with 
great  pride, — a shirt  on  which  the 
whole  of  the  Koran  was  beautifully 
written  in  almost  microscopic  letters. 
It  had  been  handed  down  (un- 
washed of  course)  from  his  grand- 
father’s or  great  grandfather’s  day, 
and  it  was  a sure  protection  against 
any  bullet;  he  wore  it  whenever  he 
went  out  to  battle.  And  while  that 
man  could  listen  without  any  resent- 
ment to  anything  you  might  say 


4 


about  his  prophet,  it  did  hurt  him  to 
be  told,  no  matter  how  kindly,  that 
God’s  Word  could  do  no  one  any 
good  unless  written  on  the  heart. 

Any  one  touring  among  Moslems 
must  be  prepared  to  meet  with  all 
sorts  of  ideas  and  arguments,  from 
the  unutterably  trivial  ones  to  those 
which  are  profound,  and  urged  with 
all  the  keenness  and  subtelty  of  the 
Moslem  theologians  trained  to  de- 
bate. These,  even  the  petty  ones, 
often  tax  a man’s  ingenuity  to  ans- 
wer; and  while  the  missionary  must 
ever  try  to  avoid  discussion  and  seek 
to  present  the  positive  truths  of  the 
Gospel  to  his  hearers,  yet  he  cannot 
refuse  to  debate  at  times;  and  an 
objection  which  may  seem  to  him  as 
trivial,  may  be  a very  real  difficulty- 
with  the  man  with  whom  he  is  talk~- 
ing.  It  is  in  this  respect  that  the- 
native  born  worker  so  wonderfully 
assists  and  supplements  the  mission- 
ary. No  matter  how  long  the  for- 
eigner is  in  the  country  he  never 
learns  the  language  quite  like  the 
natives;  nor  can  he  wholly  get  their 
point  of  view  and  enter  into  their 
ways  of  thought.  A man  of  the 
country  even  though  he  is  not  a con- 
vert from  Islam,  instinctively  under- 


5 


stands  what  lies  back  of  a question 
in  the  man’s  mind;  or  some  veiled 
remark  in  village  patois,  wholly  un- 
intelligible to  the  missionary,  is  per- 
fectly clear  to  the  native  born  evan- 
gelist. 

Here  for  example  is  the  Rev. 
A.M. — a graduate  of  McCormick 
Theological  Seminary,  but  none  the 
less  born  and  brought  up  in  Persia. 
He  grew  up  side  by  side  with  Mos- 
lem boys;  he  spoke  their  language 
as  well  as  he  did  his  own,  the  Syriac. 
He  is  today  the  best  preacher  in 
Turkish  in  West  Persia  Mission,  log- 
ical, simple,  earnest  and  winsome, 
knowing  just  what  are  the  weak 
points  he  is  attacking  and  how  to 
present  the  truth  in  the  most  con- 
vincing manner.  His  preaching  pow- 
er attracts  many  new  faces  to  the 
Sunday  services  in  the  church  at 
Tabriz;  but  his  chief  power  is  per- 
sonal conversations  with  Moslems  in 
their  homes  or  shops,  or  with  the 
callers  at  the  Bible  depot.  Always 
tactful  and  unruffled  he  sticks  to  the 
main  point  no  matter  how  often  he 
may  be  sidetracked,  — salvation 
through  Jesus  Christ  and  Him  alone. 
Indeed  seldom  has  there  been  so 
much  encouragement  and  hope  in 


6 


this  branch  of  the  work  in  the  large 
city  of  Tabriz  as  there  has  been  since 
he  took  hold. 

Then  there  is  Baron  G — an  Ar- 
menian, who  is  a man  of  a very  dif- 
ferent type.  He  has  had  but  very 
little  education;  the  most  that  he 
knows  has  been  learned  during  his 
active  service  as  an  evangelist.  His 
language  is  not  the  elegant  diction 
of  the  Rev.  A.M — but  the  village 
dialect;  in  that  he  is  an  adept.  For 
years  he  has  been  most  earnest  and 
untiring  in  the  work  of  evangelistic 
touring;  few  parts  of  the  province  of 
Azerbajan  have  not  been  visited  by 
him,  and  in  many  localities  he  has 
been  the  pioneer  of  the  Gospel.  He 
has  had  many  thrilling  experiences. 
Once  he  was  in  a town  alone,  the 
only  Christian  in  the  place.  It  was 
a town  that  was  cursed  with  blood 
feuds  and  most  of  the  men  went 
armed.  There  in  the  city  streets  he 
was  surrounded  by  a crowd,  who 
demanded  that  he  tell  them  what  he 
thought  of  their  Prophet.  No  tem- 
porizing nor  evading  the  issue  was 
permitted.  “Was  he  a true  prophet 
or  a false  one?”  they  demanded,  as 
they  brandished  their  guns.  “Well 
since  you  insist”  he  shouted  “he  was 


7 


false.”  But  before  anyone  could 
harm  him,  a young  man  completely 
armed  sprang  to  his  side,  and  ex- 
claimed “This  man  has  been  brave 
enough  to  tell  us  what  he  thinks  at 
such  a time.  Whoever  shoots  him 
must  shoot  me  first.”  These  years 
of  service  have  been  far  from  easy 
for  Baron  G — More  than  once  he 
had  had  to  spend  a cold  winter’s 
night  in  the  streets  of  a village  too  in- 
hospitable to  take  a Christian  in. 
Once  in  the  middle  of  the  night  his 
host  put  him  out  of  his  house  into 
the  cold  rain  on  learning  that  he  was 
a Christian. 

1 am  glad  to  say  that  work  for 
Moslems  is  made  a growing  part  of 
the  course  in  our  Theological  classes. 
The  students  in  addition  to  studying 
Islam  by  lectures  and  text  books  are 
expected  to  spend  their  week-ends 
under  the  superintendence  of  their 
instructors  in  missionary  work  in  the 
Moslem  villages  and  the  many  tea 
houses  along  the  way.  Rabi  S — one 
of  these  students  at  Urumia  in  addi- 
tion to  his  training  has  been  my  com- 
panion on  a long  and  most  inter- 
esting tour  into  more  distant  sections 
of  Azerbajan;  and  never  have  1 had 
a more  helpful  associate.  His  zeal 


8 


never  flagged ; rain,  cold,  uncom- 
fortable lodgings  and  hard  experi- 
ences with  the  Mohammedans  never 
daunted  him.  He  loved  most  of  all 
to  take  his  Bibles  to  the  bazaars  to 
sell;  and  he  would  come  back  from 
one  of  these  trips  all  aglow  with  en- 
thusiasm over  the  opportunities 
given  him  to  testify  to  his  Master. 
Were  I to  make  another  tour  I would 
choose  him  rather  than  anyone  else  I 
know,  to  be  my  companion;  and  I 
know  that  wherever  he  may  labor, 
either  as  pastor  of  one  of  our  Urumia 
churches  or  in  direct  work  for  Islam, 
he  will  never  lose  his  deep  interest 
in  the  evangelization  of  the  Moslems 
of  Persia. 

But  others,  besides  these  and 
many  other  paid  workers,  are  busy 
in  this  form  of  Christian  endeavor. 
Let  me  give  you  one  example,  a 
woman,  S — by  name  in  the  village 
of  G — She  is  a member  of  that 
church  and  an  untiring  worker. 
Once  after  preaching  in  the  church  I 
asked  for  volunteers  to  go  with  me 
to  some  nearby  Moslem  villages.  S — 
offered  her  services,  and  with  some 
misgivings  at  going  with  a woman  to 
such  work,  I at  last  ventured  out. 
We  visited  that  afternoon  a number 


9 


f villages,  and  had  audiences  in 
each  one.  At  first  S — in  deference  to 
he  missionary  kept  silence  and  let 
him  do  the  speaking;  but  evidently 
she  felt  that  he  was  talking  over  the 
heads  of  the  village  people,  and  so 
at  last  she  asked  permission  to  say 
a few  words;  and  after  that  there 
was  no  more  shooting  high.  She 
called  a spade  a spade  with  absolute 
frankness;  but  her  frankness  was 
well  seasoned  with  salt  and  she  held 
her  audience  through  to  the  end. 
That  night  the  missionary  as  he 
reviewed  the  work  of  the  day  rea- 
lized that  the  best  preaching  had 
been  done  by  the  woman  end  of  the 
team.  This  is  only  one  incident  of 
her  many  activities.  Recently,  since 
the  great  number  of  mountaineers 
have  come  as  refugees  to  the  plain 
of  Urumia,  she  has  taken  those  in 
near  villages  under  her  care.  She 
visits  them,  helps  their  sick,  sews  for 
the  naked,  advises  and  scolds  them 
like  the  children  that  they  are,  and 
preaches  to  them.  They  call  her 
Kasha  (Priest)  S — and  no  one  has 
a stronger  influence  over  them. 


10 


The  Missionary  is  needed  for 
Persia,  and  for  many  years  to  come 
we  must  send  an  increasing  force 
there  if  that  country  is  to  be  evan- 
gelized ; but  I am  even  more  sure 
that  the  larger  part  of  the  work  must 
and  will  fall  to  the  native  agents;  and 
the  hope  of  Persia  lies  in  multiplying 
many  hundred  times  the  workers, 
paid  and  volunteer,  who  spring  from 
the  people  and  know  their  ways  as 
no  foreigner  can  hope  to  know  them. 

R.  M.  LABAREE. 


II 


II.  With  the  Medical  Missionary  in 
E.  Persia. 

N JUNE.  1916,  Dr.  Jos- 
eph W.  Cook  of  the 
Teheran  station  of  the  E. 
Persia  Mission,  started 
on  an  itinerating  trip  in  the  Elburz 
mountains,  the  point  aimed  for  being 
60  miles  northeast  of  Teheran.  With 
him  was  a native  evangelist,  a Bible 
seller  and  two  servants.  After  sev- 
eral days  of  travel  with  numerous 
patients  seen  by  the  way,  and  oper- 
ations for  cataracts  performed,  the 
party  reached  Firus  Kuh  and  pitched 
their  camp  in  a garden  by  the  river. 
A tent  was  loaned  to  Dr.  Cook  by 
the  Governor  and  in  this  he  and  his 
associates  lived  and  held  the  dis- 
pensary and  operated  for  cataracts. 

While  there  Dr.  Cook  was  sent  for 
to  visit  the  governor  of  a place  some 
seven  hours  distant  over  the  moun- 
tains and  perform  for  him  a cataract 
operation  also.  The  old  governor 
was  about  80  years  of  age.  In  his 
prime  he  had  charge  of  all  the  Shah’s 
horses  and  in  this  way  had  acquired 
%'reat  wealth.  In  recent  years,  when 


12 


the  former  Shah  visited  him  and  the 
Baktiaris  came  in  pursuit,  several 
hundred  mares  were  taken  and  much 
property  destroyed. 

From  Savat  Kuh  the  home  of  the 
governor  the  party  went  to  Simnon 
stopping  a few  hours  at  Abe  Garm 
and  bathing  in  the  hot  sulphur 
waters.  At  certain  seasons  200  or 
more  sick  people  congregate  at  these 
hot  springs  looking  for  cures  of  all 
kinds  of  diseases. 

"It  is  my  earnest  hope”,  writes 
D.  Cook,  "to  some  day  establish  a 
little  hospital  in  Simnon.  It  is  a city 
of  20,000  inhabitants  with  perhaps 
15,000  more  in  the  dozen  or  so 
villages  in  the  plain  and  mountains 
in  the  vicinity.  The  plain  unfor- 
tunately lacks  water  so  that  enough 
grain  and  barley  for  the  local  in- 
habitants cannot  be  raised  and  sup- 
plies from  the  outside  have  to  be 
brought  in.  The  inhabitants  of  Sim- 
non are  simple  and  hospitable.  All 
along  the  streets  the  men,  women 
and  children  greet  you  with  ‘Salaam’. 
Foreigners  are  not  looked  upon  as 
unclean,  we  were  treated  as  brothers, 
taken  into  their  mosques  and  holy 
places  and  allowed  to  eat  from  the 
same  dishes  as  the  Moslems  them- 


13 


selves.  This  is  all  due  to  a Mullah 
or  old  priest,  recently  deceased. 
H e was  said  to  be  over  1 00  years 
old,  had  ruled  the  whole  district 
and  was  well  known  all  over 
Persia.  He  had  publicly  declared 
that  Christians  were  their  brothers, 
had  himself  so  treated  Christians, 
and  in  fact  at  one  time  had 
asked  one  of  our  missionaries  to 
preach  for  him  in  the  leading 
mosque  of  the  city.  From  that  time 
Christians  have  been  free  to  come 
and  go  in  the  mosques  of  Simnon. 
When  Dr.  Esselstyn  who  had  visited 
him,  said  Goodbye,  the  old  priest 
held  out  his  hand  and  said — ‘In  this 
religion  of  yours  be  steadfast,  the 
right  is  with  you’.  The  old  man  had 
a Bible  which  he  knew  well. 

“Leaving  Simnon  we  travelled 
over  the  same  road  on  which  Alex- 
ander the  Great  pursued  Darius, 
2000  years  ago.  The  road  runs  due 
east  over  a desert  which  rises  grad- 
ually to  a pass  and  then  drops  into 
another  series  of  valleys  and  plains 
where  the  country  is  more  irregular 
and  mountainous.  Several  times  we 
had  to  get  out  and  walk  while  the 
horses  with  great  difficulty  pulled 
the  heavy  canvas-covered  wagon  up 
through  the  sandy  slopes. 


14 


“The  leading  native  doctor  of 
Simnon  accompanied  us  and  was 
with  us  for  the  following  month, 
assisting  us  in  every  way  and  trying 
to  learn,  as  he  said,  more  about 
medicine. 

“The  second  day  out  as  we  were 
driving  across  a hot  sandy  desert 
we  saw  a donkey  with  a woman  and 
sick-looking  child  on  its  back  and  a 
man  walking  by  the  side.  The  doc- 
tor called  out  ‘Where  are  you  go- 
ing?’ ‘To  Simnon  to  see  the  foreign 
doctor’,  was  the  reply.  ‘Well,  here’s 
the  doctor,  turn  around  and  come  on 
to  Denghan  and  we’ll  take  care  of 
him.’  They  had  brought  the  child 
over  40  miles  from  a village  down 
in  the  desert  south  of  Sharood. 
We  operated  on  the  little  fellow 
only  five  years  of  age,  two  days 
later  and  a few  hours  after  he  was 
carried  away  wrapped  in  dirty 
clothes  and  kept  in  a caravansari. 
Every  day  for  eight  days  the  report 
was  circulated  that  the  child  had 
died,  but  every  day,  much  to  the 
surprise  of  us  all  the  child  was 
brought  to  the  hospital  and  dressed 
and  little  by  little  recovered. 


15  « 


“The  day  before  the  operation 
the  father  had  gone  to  the  chief 
Kullah  or  priest  of  the  city  to  ask 
advice.  The  priest,  a sensible  young 
fellow  of  27  years  of  age  said — 
‘Well,  the  child  will  die  anyway  so 
you  had  better  have  him  operated 
on  and  give  him  a chance.’ 

“Our  work  was  watched  in 
Denghan  with  a good  deal  of  critical 
interest.  The  house  we  were  in  had 
been  lent  to  us  by  a prominent  man. 
It  was  his  own  house  in  the  process 
of  construction,  bricks  and  lime  were 
lying  about  in  great  confusion.  The 
young  Mujtahid  the  leading  priest 
of  the  city  and  district  was  most 
cordial.  He  was  suffering  from 
neurasthenia  so  fortunately  we  were 
able  to  help  him  very  much  by  ad- 
vice and  medicine,  chiefly  jollying 
him  until  he  forgot  his  troubles.  For 
this  treatment  we  received  50 
tomans  and  his  friendship.  He  with 
eight  or  ten  other  prominent  citizens 
proposed  giving  1200  Tomans  and 
a house  and  garden  for  three  years 
to  our  hospital  with  the  understand- 
ing that  within  six  months  we  should 
start  work.  A paper  was  drawn  up 
and  properly  signed  by  the  governor, 
chief  priest  and  leading  merchants 
and  given  to  me. 


16 


"Denghan  is  the  chief  city  of  the 
plain  in  which  it  is  situated  and  is 
famous  for  its  pistachio  nuts,  said  to 
be  the  finest  in  the  world.  It  has  a 
population  of  12,000,  and  the  350 
villages  in  the  flat  plains  surrounding 
have  a population  of  perhaps  30,- 
000  more.  Denghan  has  the  reputa- 
tion in  consequence  of  its  water  sup- 
ply and  grain  products,  of  being  the 
richest  city  in  all  this  province.  In 
all  this  district  there  is  no  trained 
physician  or  surgeon.  Two  men 
practice  but  neither  has  had  even 
the  most  elementary  education. 

“The  hereditary  prince  of  Mazen- 
deran  invited  us  to  spend  a few  days 
with  him  investigating  the  needs  of 
the  mountain  districts  of  his  terri- 
tory. His  son  had  been  a patient  of 
mine  in  Teheran  so  he  sent  his  own 
animals  and  servants  to  escort  us 
over  the  mountains  to  his  own  home. 

"We  were  his  guests  for  ten  days, 
but  in  spite  of  the  hospitality  we 
were  at  the  beck  and  call  of  every 
one,  especially  the  family  of  the 
hereditary  prince  and  practical 
owner  of  this  province.  He  is  a fine 
man  and  his  son  too,  but  the  many 
brothers  and  relatives  are  much  like 


17 


the  general  run  of  Persian  grandees. 
A number  of  patients  were  brought 
to  us  for  treatment,  and  one  an  old 
man  of  70  who  was  willing  to  have 
an  operation  but  would  not  come, 
was  brought  by  two  soldiers.  The 
old  man  had  not  slept  for  five 
months  because  of  constant  pain,  but 
after  working  for  an  hour  and  a half 
amid  a thousand  difficulties  we  man- 
aged to  relieve  him  of  his  trouble. 
Fully  forty  men  and  boys  were  wait- 
ing outside  while  we  worked,  several 
times  the  old  man’s  pulse  almost 
stopped,  such  bleeding  I had  never 
seen,  but  finally  it  was  finished  and 
I asked  the  crowd  outside  that  they* 
all  pray  for  his  recovery.  A cry  of 
‘En  Shah  Allah’  or  ‘God  willing’ 
went  up.  Our  prayers  were 
answered  and  he  recovered. 

‘‘After  the  operation  the  old  man 
was  carried  to  an  adjoining  room 
dark  and  dirty  and  was  put  on  a 
thick  piece  of  felt  on  the  floor  and 
wrapped  in  his  own  rags  and 
blankets.  1 think  every  one  ex- 
pected him  to  die.  1 dared  not 
hope  much  myself,  but  he  improved 


18 


day  by  day  and  recovered  his 
strength.  After  this  our  reputation 
spread  widely  and  we  saw  scores  of 
new  people  every  day,  many  com- 
ing from  the  shores  of  the  Caspian 
Sea  and  others  from  the  mountains 
four  or  five  days’  journey  away. 
The  day  I planned  to  leave  an  old 
fellow  with  a cataract  in  one  eye, 
the  other  gone  entirely,  came,  so  I 
operated  immediately  and  left.  My 
Mirza  who  remained  for  several 
days,  said  he  got  a good  result. 

“Before  leaving,  Masudul  Molk, 
the  hereditary  prince,  gave  me  a 
letter  promising  to  build  and  equip 
a little  hospital  and  pay  all  running 
expenses  provided  I furnish  a resi- 
dent native  physician  for  the  four 
summer  months,  and  spend  one 
month  of  that  time  there  myself. 

"We  were  away  seven  weeks, 
treated  about  3,500  patients,  per- 
formed 1 30  operations  and  took  in 
receipts  amounting  to  460  Tomans 
(about  $500  gold)  which  more  than 
paid  the  expense  of  the  trip. 

“This  to  me  is  the  fascinating  side 
of  medical  mission  work.  I dare 


19 


say  that  nine-tenths  of  the  operations 
we  performed  would  have  gone  un- 
done and  the  patients  left  to  suffer 
indefinitely  perhaps  till  death,  had 
we  not  gone  and  hunted  them  up. 
I am  equally  sure  that  several  of  the 
patients  had  they  been  operated  on 
in  a hospital  would  have  died.  Why 
this  is  I do  not  understand  but  in 
the  three  years  I have  been  on  the 
field  I have  observed  that  many 
Persians  do  not  do  well  in  hospital 
surroundings.  Separated  from  their 
friends,  their  customary  food  and 
surroundings,  they  wilt  and  die  with- 
out apparent  cause.  But  it  is  helpful 
to  know  that  operations  can  be  suc- 
cessfully performed  on  a touring 
trip.” 


20 


The  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  of  the 
Presbyterian  Chureh  in  the  U.S.A. 
151,  FIFTH  AVE.,  NEW  YOKE 


I 'or  m 2tbfl 


NnvrmWr. 


